The Things You Do for Friends
by LaurieLover
Summary: Sirius Black is not like all the Blacks. Sirius Black did not go to Slytherin. Sirius Black does not support Voldemort. And Sirius Black's four best friends consist of two blood traitors, one half-breed, and one Mudblood/half-breed. What's a Black to do?
1. Sirius' Outburst

My first Harry Potter fic!! cheers Please please please review!

Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter!!

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Sirius held the plate tightly in his hands, fighting to stay calm. "Sirius! Get down here!"

He winced. "Yes, mother."

"What on earth is taking that boy so long?" He heard her say to their guests.

One of them snickered, and the tallest one snapped, "Quiet, Lucius."

Sirius walked out into the dining room, balancing the main courses on his arms.

He eyed the Malfoys with disgust. Sirius harbored a deep hatred against what his family considered to be of the higher class -- arrogant, self absorbed pure-bloods who thought they were better than everyone else for just that reason. "Well what are you waiting for?" his mother told him through clenched teeth, pasting a fake smile on her face as she turned towards Gregory Malfoy.

Sirius put the plates down onto the table with a bang. "Watch it, Sirius," his father growled.

Just one more comment...that was all he needed. Sirius began serving people, looking down so his father could not see the expression on his face.

"I want more potatoes." his brother, Regulus, informed him.

"So get some." Sirius said, turning away.

"I can't, it's too far!" Regulus complained.

Sirius glared daggers at him. "All right, so don't get some."

Regulus whined, "Dad, Sirius is bullying me!"

His father dropped his fork with a clatter. "Dammit, Sirius, can't we have a nice dinner just once?!"

Sirius looked up, and Mr. Black, seeing the fire in his son's eyes, drew his wand. "Go upstairs. Now."

"No."

"I said go upstairs."

"Make me."

His father stood up. "Sirius!"

Sirius folded his arms and said nothing. The Malfoys were watching the developing drama before them as though there was nothing in the world that was more interesting, and Sirius wanted nothing more than to wipe the smirks off their faces. He stared at his father full in the face.

His mother, sensing a fight, looked nervously towards the Malfoys, and his father, catching her eye, nodded. "Come with me into the kitchen." With that, his father walked out of the room, and Sirius found himself following stiffly, his muscles tensing.

When they had both reached the sink, his father stared at him, and then slipped his wand back into his pocket. Sirius wasn't fooled, and he remained tense. Suddenly Mr. Black sighed, conjured up two chairs and sat down. Sirius stayed standing.

"Sit," his father said. Sirius sat. "I...last week we got a letter." Sirius waited patiently for his father to go on, wondering why he wasn't being beaten by now. Mr. Black was sweating like a pig; Sirius gruffly handed him a handkerchief. His father accepted it, and went on. "It was about you...Hogwarts." The last word came out strangled, and Sirius' pulse raced. Hogwarts? Where his parents had both gone?

"No," he told his father. "I'm not going."

His father stared at him, dropping all pretense. "Why the hell not?" he said hotly.

"Because you went there." Sirius said, not bothering to hide the disgust in his voice. "And why are you so nervous about it?" he added suddenly.

"Son, it's been a tradition in our family so far that everyone who goes to Hogwarts goes to Slytherin. We don't want you to be the one to break that tradition."

Sirius snorted. "Don't do that," his father snapped rather harshly. "This is important, Sirius. You are going to be the family heir someday and --"

"And then it'll be my duty to make sure the Black family traditions are continued, blah, blah, blah." Sirius said in a bored voice, surprised at how daring he was.

His father said coldly, "Term starts in two weeks. You're going, and you'd better not disappoint us."

"Or what?" Sirius asked, nearly losing control of his temper. "Or what?!" He hated living in the terrible shadow the Blacks had created, he hated the expectations he had to follow in order to be the perfect family heir, he hated all the obnoxious, stuck up pure-bloods he had to deal with everyday. He hated it all, and he wanted out.

"We can disown you." his father said quietly at Sirius' outburst. "This is the last straw, Sirius."

Sirius frowned. "I only wish it had come sooner. That way I wouldn't have had to deal with all this!"

His father stood up, his eyes blazing. "Sirius Black, you are going to go to Hogwarts, you will be in Slytherin, and you will hold up the family n--"

"Hang on!" Sirius interrupted, now on his feet as well. "I am most certainly NOT going to be in Slytherin!"

"Then you are no son of mine." his father said, and a searing pain shot through Sirius' heart.

"Dad..."

"YOU WILL GO!"

Sirius froze, stuck between himself and his father. No matter how much Sirius said he hated him, he knew he loved his father and always would no matter what. But the things his father said...they hurt him. Sirius took in a deep breath. "Fine, i'll go to Hogwarts -- anything to get out of this crapshoot."

"Sirius!"

"Sorry, mum." Sirius murmured as he saw her walk into the kitchen. He suddenly felt very drained, and he just wanted to go upstairs and sleep. His anger was gone. But his mother wasn't.

"Sirius, tonight you've disgraced our entire family. How dare you act like that?! What on earth has gotten into you, Sirius?!"

"I...I dunno, mum. I'm really sorry."

"Walburga, he's going to Hogwarts." his father told Sirius' mum.

She nodded, her expression suddenly softening. "Good...I expect we'll have to wake up early tomorrow to buy all the supplies. Go to bed now, Sirius." This time he didn't object, but gladly left the room.

"I need to talk to you, Walburga." Sirius heard his father sigh as he left. "That boy is getting to be just too much..."

Sirius headed up the stairs to his room, trying as hard as he could not to think about the argument that had just taken place, telling himself he needed to go to sleep, but it was no use.

_You are no son of mine..._

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A little OOC for Sirius, I think. Next chapter's better, get ready to meet the others! Again, please review!


	2. Malfoy Mayhem

As always, please review! If people don't like it I might take it down. PS I know I said in the last chapter you'll meet everyone else, but this turned out to be longer than I thought. Next chapter, I promise!!

Disclaimer: I already put one in the last chapter, silly.

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Sirius checked the list one last time as he stood in his room next to his luggage. "Robes...check. Wand...check. Pet..." Sirius looked fondly over at Bridget, the beautiful golden and auburn owl with deep blue eyes he'd found at the Owl Emporium. "Check. Quills..." His eyes widened. "Oh, no, Dad, Mum!" Sirius dashed downstairs. "We forgot to buy --"

"These?" his mother said, smiling slightly as she held up a brand new pack of shiny green and silver quills. "We thought you'd forget," she told Sirius as he took them from her gratefully.

"I'm fully packed then," he informed her. "Let me just nick upstairs and put these in my bag."

"You've got your owl all ready?" Sirius nodded. "Excellent. Your father will help you bring your luggage down. Goodness, boy, you packed a lot!" his mother said, giving him a slight push towards the stairs. "Hurry up now, the train leaves in half an hour!"

Sirius ran back upstairs, glancing doubtfully at the quills, decorated according to the Slytherin house, before stuffing them into the front pocket of his backpack. "Like i'll ever use them," he muttered under his breath. He knew there was no way he would get into Slytherin -- his heart was set on Gryffindor. Not that he would ever tell his parents that, of course. At least not until there was no way they could take him out. He heaved his backpack onto his shoulders, wincing as he did. He _had_ packed a lot. Oh well...there was no harm in overdoing it, he could always send things back home.

"Sirius, boy, you've got everything?" Sirius turned to see his father entering the room. His father let out a low whistle. "You packing for all your roommates as well?" he smiled.

"Just in case they're as forgetful as I am." His father laughed.

"All right, let's go then. Can you take that too?" He pointed towards one of the smaller suitcases. "I can take these two big ones. Bridget, on the other hand..."

"She can fly." Sirius said proudly.

His father raised an eyebrow. "But she's only a few months old..."

"Taught her myself. Watch." Sirius whistled, holding out his arm. Bridget instantly left her perch and landed on his shoulder.

His father nodded approvingly. "That's my boy." Sirius stopped himself from wincing. They hadn't once spoken of their argument from a few weeks before. His father appeared to have forgotten all about it. That was how it usually was. But recently, Sirius noticed his father had become somewhat more...reserved, perhaps, around his son. A little bit nicer, even. It set Sirius on edge.

"Sirius? Let's go," his father said, breaking his train of thought. Sirius shrugged and followed his father out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

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Twenty minutes later they stood at the entrance of platform nine and three quarters, barely five minutes before the train would leave. His mum wished him a hurried goodbye, taking his father's arm and pulling him away. But his father broke off, instead moving towards Sirius. Sirius steeled himself, hoping what he thought was coming wasn't. His father placed his hands on Sirius' shoulders, heavy and rough. "Listen, boy," Mr. Black instructed.

"Let him get on the train! We need to go, now!" his mother called back to them.

"Just a minute, Walburga." his father replied with finality, turning back to his squirming son. "Well --" he paused, and squeezed Sirius' shoulder. "Good luck, son." He pressed something into Sirius' hand and turned to leave.

"Dad -- wait -- what?!" But he had gone. Sirius jumped at the whistle of the train, suddenly remembering where he was. "Merlin -- the train!" Stuffing what his father had given him into his pocket, he sprinted onto the locomotive, cursing his heavy luggage with every step. Just as he got on the door closed behind him and the train started moving. Sirius sighed with relief, resolving to arrive earlier next time.

Slowly he dragged his suitcase behind him looking for an empty compartment, but he soon realised it was useless. He passed in front of a compartment where music was blaring so loudly he was surprised the whole train couldn't hear it, shook his head, and moved on. Another compartment; filled with kids older than he was, and all Slytherins, by the looks of it. He was about to move on when he heard a shout behind him. "Oi! Sirius Black?! Is it really you?!" Sirius flinched. _Keep walking..._ "Sirius! Hey, wait up!"

He couldn't pretend to ignore him any longer. He whirled around. "Hello, Lucius." he said coldly.

"How are you?" Lucius Malfoy said in a false cheery voice, checking to see if anyone was watching.

"Never better," Sirius replied in the same tone. "You?"

"All right, all right..." They both glanced around one more time, then drew their wands simultaneously.

"You listen to me, Malfoy," Sirius growled. "I don't want to cause any trouble, all right?"

Lucius smirked, unintimidated. "Always the odd one in the bunch, weren't you? Planning on going into Gryffindor? No -- they're much to smart for you. Perhaps Hufflepuff? That's where all the dunces go. Doesn't really matter to me, though. You'll be a filthy blood traitor no matter what."

Sirius raised his wand. "I'm warning you..."

Lucius laughed. "You wouldn't dare."

"Is that a challenge?!"

"You're not a true Slytherin; I can see that. A true Slytherin would be smart enough to know when someone's about to whoop his arse."

"Malfoy!" Sirius brandished his wand warningly.

Lucius grinned delightedly, sensing the distress he was causing Sirius. He fingered his wand thoughtfully. "Expelliarmus!" he shouted suddenly, hitting Sirius square in the chest.

Sirius fell backwards, dropping his wand and smashing into a compartment door. Vaguely he heard startled exclamations coming from inside. He gasped, searching for his wand on the floor. "Ah ah ah," Lucius said, standing above him.

Sirius looked up to see the Malfoy twirling his wand. He grabbed for it, and Lucius pulled his arm back quickly. "Mine now." he pronounced, pocketing Sirius' wand and turning to leave. Sirius grabbed onto the side of the wall instead, trying to follow him, but found his legs were too wobbly to support him.

Lucius had paused to watch him struggle, not bothering to hold in his gleeful chuckles. "Have a good time," he smirked, waving his wand again in Sirius' direction.

Sirius felt his whole body lock suddenly, and fell to the ground. His head banged into the floor, and he blacked out.

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Review time! Next chapter's almost done, I think this is gonna be my fastest updating story


	3. That Fateful Meeting

Yay, third chapter. Things get better now. Please review

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"Oi! For god's sake man, wake up!" Sirius felt cold water splash his face, and groaned.

"Not now..." Everything hurt, and he didn't want to be bothered. He just wanted to go back to sleep.

"Get up!" More water splashed his face, and this time Sirius rolled over.

"Oomph!"

"Well, I think that woke him up." Sirius opened his eyes, confused. He found himself lying on the floor, sopping wet from the waist up.

"That was a hard fall just now, wasn't it?" He looked up to see a boy about his age standing over him, offering him a hand. He took it gratefully, allowing the boy to haul him up back into his seat.

"What happened?"

Now he was looking properly, he found he was sitting in a compartment with two other boys -- one with neat dirty blond hair and a kind twinkle in his hazel eyes, the other with incredibly messy black hair, startlingly blue eyes just like Sirius', and a lopsided grin Sirius found contagious. "We found you on the floor in the hall, mate." the one with black hair said, holding out his hand for Sirius to shake. "I'm James."

Sirius took it. "Sirius."

James sat back, smiling. "Nice to meet you, Sirius."

"Well met indeed," the other boy added, also holding out his hand. "I'm Remus."

Sirius winced suddenly as he turned to shake Remus' hand. "My neck..." He rubbed it gently, feeling a bruise beginning to form.

Remus nodded understandingly. "We got you some ice," he explained, holding up a bag slowly leaking water. "But you rolled over onto it when it melted. I can get some more," he added.

"Is that why I'm so wet?" Sirius asked. "Yeah, could I have some more, do you think?"

Remus nodded. "Sure -- i'll be right back." With that, he left the compartment.

There was an awkward silence in the room. "Er -- here's your wand," James said, holding it out for him. "And you dropped this." It was the package Sirius' father had given him at the station.

Sirius accepted the two items, pocketing the package. "Thanks." Another pause.

"All right -- let's stop beating around the bush." James said suddenly, leaning forward. "Why was Lucius Malfoy attacking you?"

Sirius frowned. He hadn't realised James had seen that. "You know him?" he asked, stalling.

James nodded. "My family is pure-blood -- we all know the Malfoys. Not that we like them," he added bitterly. Sirius nodded in agreement. All the pure-blood families knew each other, seeing as there weren't that many left.

"And you're a Black, aren't you?" James asked, a knowing twinkle in his eye. Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Recognized the cheeks," he explained. "You all have high cheekbones."

Sirius studied him carefully, taking in his prominent chin, looking once more at his hair. "And you're a Potter, i'll bet."

James grimaced. "Let's get this out now, shall we?" He hesitated, not quite knowing how to put it.

Sirius knew what he meant. "I don't think you're a blood traitor," he said slowly. "I think your parents are great people to pull themselves out of the twisted lives --" _others have to live,_ he thought, breaking off mid-sentence. _I have to live. _

"Here's some ice," Remus said cheerfully, coming back into the room. He stopped. "Oof." he said. "You could cut the tension in here with a knife. What happened?" Sirius reflected that that question had come up quite a lot in the past few minutes.

James glanced at him. "Nothing," he said easily, leaning back into his seat. "Nothing at all."

Remus looked doubtful, but let the subject slide. He handed Sirius the ice, asking as he sat down, "Did you tell him what happened yet?"

James shook his head. "We heard you smash into a compartment door, stuck our heads out to look and there you were, just being knocked out cold by that git Malfoy."

"Then we both drew our wands and attacked him -- or tried to at least," Remus put in, blushing slightly. "Neither of us knew any really good spells." he explained, "so we had to resort to the Muggle way of fighting." Remus rolled up his sleeve, revealing a nasty cut. "One of the girls opened up the compartment door at exactly the wrong time," he said grimly.

"Don't blame it on her," James snapped. "she wanted to help." Remus rolled his eyes.

"She wanted to get you to leave, James." he said tiredly. "Can't you stop following her around?!"

"I wasn't following her that time," James said in a hurt voice. "I was trying to help Sirius here."

"Of course you were." Remus said tolerantly, turning back to a bemused looking Sirius. "Girl he's got a crush on -- Lily Evans. Nearly chopped my arm clean off."

Sirius almost laughed. "Sounds charming."

"Oh, she is!" James exclaimed, missing the sarcasm. "She's the most beautiful girl i've ever seen. I'm going to marry her some day, you know," he added.

Remus shook his head bewilderingly. "He's crazy," he mouthed to Sirius. Sirius grinned.

"I saw that!" James whined. "You think she doesn't like me, don't you?!"

"Only because she told you that herself around a million times," Remus replied.

"There's a thin line between love and hate."

"I beg to differ."

"Too bad."

Sirius laughed. "You have got to point her out to me," he told them. "I want to meet this love-hate girl."

"So which house do you want to be in?" asked Remus, getting bored of the conversation line.

"We both want to be in Gryffindor," James told Sirius.

"Honestly?" They nodded. "Me too! But we're Sorted by some sort of hat, right? You don't get to choose yourself."

"No, but people usually get what they want anyway." James said.

The three of them chatted for a while longer, and Sirius found himself liking them more and more. _I'm lucky to have found friends already!_ He thought happily. _Bet I'm doing better than Malfoy is._

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Next up, romance! (And the Sorting). Excited? Review!


	4. A Particular She and the Sorting

This chapter is like twice as long as the others, but I didn't know where to cut it. Anyways, enjoy! Thanks for the reviews! (And sorry for my rhyming skills during the Sorting!)

_I wear sophisticated clothes, I say sophisticated things;_

_Everything about me says I'm a sophistication king_

_But when I'm with you, can't seem to find my cool_

_Yeah when I'm with you -- I'm just a dribbling fool!_

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When the train stopped, the trio left together, unsure of where to go. "Firs' year's over here! This way! Firs' year's!" a voice boomed over the crowd of swarming students.

"That's us," Remus said, taking ahold of his luggage and moving in the direction the voice was coming from. James and Sirius followed.

The crowd slowly cleared to reveal an incredibly large man standing over multiple boats lying on the shore, a lantern attached to the stern of each. "Merlin, that man's a giant!" James whispered to Sirius and Remus. "That must be Hagrid -- I heard he's a halfbreed. I wonder --"

"Let's get a boat before they're they're all gone," Remus said swiftly, interrupting James.

It was four to a boat, so they would have to share with one other person. Just as they'd found a boat and Remus was asking if they could join the mousy-looking boy in it, James suddenly froze and elbowed Sirius hard in the stomach. "Ow!" Sirius yelped. "What was that for?!"

"That's her," James said breathlessly, pointing. "Lily!" Sirius turned to see two girls getting into a boat together with two macho looking boys. One girl had flaming red hair and was rather pretty, but it was the other girl Sirius was staring at. She had long auburn hair, slightly curly at the bottom, and a natural tinkling laugh he could hear all the way from where he was. She was beautiful. _That must be Lily,_ He thought to himself. _It's a pity James has got her. _

"Oi! Lily!" James said again, but louder this time. Both girls turned around, identical expressions of dislike on their faces.

"What do you want, James?" the one with auburn hair called.

"I said Lily!" James answered back, and, to Sirius' surprise, sounding rather flirtatious. "And unless that's your name..."

So she's not Lily! Sirius thought hopefully. He felt a strange flutter in his stomach. The brown haired girl laughed, and the flutter got worse. "Always so sweet, that boyfriend of yours," she said to the girl Sirius figured was Lily.

Lily turned bright red. "He's not my boyfriend!"

"He'd like to be, though!" James called out to her.

Out of the corner of his eye Sirius saw Remus desperately trying to hold in a laugh. Remus caught his look, and grinned. "He's always such an idiot around her!" he said, not bothering to keep his voice down. "It's funny!"

James whirled around. "Excuse me?!"

Sirius turned back to the girls. "Oi! You! What did you say your name was?" he called to the brunette.

She turned around, looking surprised. "I didn't," she called back, "but it's Anthea."

Anthea... "Nice name," Sirius told her. "Greek?"

Anthea replied, "Thanks, and no, it's British. What's your name?"

"Sirius," Sirius said.

Anthea opened her mouth to say something else, but Lily tugged on her sleeve. Instead she smiled. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Sirius." With that, she climbed into the boat and turned her attention away from him.

"Sirius! Get in here!" James called to him. Everyone was already in the boat except him.

"I -- yeah," Sirius stuttered, climbing into the boat just as it started moving.

"Careful -- not like that!" Remus yelped as the boat began rocking furiously. "Sit down!"

Sirius sat with a thump. "Sorry," he said.

"Sirius, Peter, Peter, Sirius." James said, motioning towards Sirius and the boy with the mousy brown hair in turn. "Any questions?"

Remus was looking at him oddly. "What?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing," Remus replied, shaking his head. "Look at that!" He pointed out into the lake, where there was a disturbance in the water.

All four boys crowded to the edge of the boat. "What is it?" Peter asked in fascination.

"I think it's the giant squid," James said. "Mum told me about it." They watched in awe as a large tentacle surfaced, followed by a huge eye for the briefest of moments.

"That was wicked," Sirius said when the squid had disappeared. "Think we'll get to see it again?"

James shrugged. "Dunno."

"We're coming up to the castle!" Remus reported excitedly.

They looked up, expecting a mediaeval sort of place but nothing in their wildest imaginations prepared them for what they saw. "It's beautiful," Sirius whispered, his eyes widening as he took in the view.

"Absolutely," Remus agreed.

"Everybody off the boats!" Hagrid called from somewhere off ahead. "When yeh all reach shore get in ter two lines!"

Their boat hit the sand with a scraping sound, and they climbed out. James nudged Sirius again. "What?" Sirius asked.

"There's Lily," James said. "Let's go catch up with her." He raced off into the crowd, and Sirius tried his best to follow, excusing himself multiple times as he bumped into other people. When Sirius finally caught up, James was already immersed in conversation with Lily, and completely ignoring him. Sirius looked around in dismay, wondering what to do now.

"Sirius!" Sirius whirled around to see Anthea coming up behind him. "Hello!"

"Hi, Anthea!" he greeted her back.

She finally reached his side. "This is exciting, isn't it?" Sirius nodded. "Which house do you want to get into?"

For once Sirius found himself at a loss for words. What if he chose the wrong house? What should he answer? What if she liked Slytherins? Don't be a bloody idiot, he scolded himself. Just tell her! "Gryffindor," he blurted out before he could stop himself.

To his surprise, she smiled delightedly. "Me too!"

Sirius felt his speech coming back. "Has anyone else in your family been here?" he asked.

"No," she answered. "I'm the only one. You?"

"Pretty much everyone in my family." Sirius refrained from saying what house they'd all gone to, and luckily Anthea didn't ask.

They chatted for a little while longer, but their conversation was interrupted by a tall woman in long navy blue robes trying to get everyone quiet. "I am Professor McGonagall," she said. "the head of Gryffindor house. In a few moments you will all be entering the Great Hall, where each of you will be Sorted into the appropriate house by the Sorting Hat. Is everyone ready?" There was a general murmur of consent. "Good. Let's get started then." On that note, the professor opened the doors to the Great Hall, and so the sorting began.

Way down at the end of the hall was a worn, frayed hat perched on a stool. As the students filed in, it opened its brim to speak;

_There are four houses in this school,_

_They all make up a whole._

_And those united are not fools,_

_For to stay united is our goal._

_The courageous house of Gryffindor,_

_Placed there for the bold and brave,_

_And the friendships formed inside that house,_

_Are ones that never cave. _

_There is the house of Ravenclaw,_

_For intelligence that shines,_

_A sort of brightness every day,_

_The kind of brilliant minds._

_There is also the house of Hufflepuff, _

_Made with those forever fair,_

_The house that accepts you for who you are,_

_Not who you were here or there._

_Last remains the house of Slytherin,_

_Whose wit surpasses all,_

_Their logic shall befuddle you,_

_But at the end shall break your fall._

_So which house is the house for you?_

_Are you smart, or kind, or can't you choose?_

_Lucky for you, that's why I'm here_

_To decide which house you'll be in this year._

_So place me on your head, _

_Don't be shy,_

_I've chosen hundreds of people already. _

"How old is that hat, I wonder?" Peter asked when it finished.

James shrugged. "Old."

"I heard it's like a person, though," Remus said thoughtfully. Sirius looked at him questioningly. "it has moods, and it's personality changes from time to time."

"...Your point?" asked James.

Remus looked at him and shrugged. "Nothing, really. Just thought it was cool."

"Do we have to stand here until every single person is Sorted?" Anthea asked, standing on her tiptoes to see over people's heads.

Sirius nodded. "Looks like it."

They settled down to watch and wait for their names to be called. "Alberini, Zane!" A handsome kid with curly light brown hair worked his way up through the crowd. He climbed the stairs with a confident look on his face, sat on the stool, and placed the hat on his head. But the confident look on his face quickly evaporated, to be replaced by a nervous look. Suddenly -- "Gryffindor!" the hat yelled out, startling Peter beside Sirius.

Remus laughed as Zane jumped up, looking happy beyond words as he joined the Gryffindor table. "Hope I'm that lucky," he said.

After that Sirius somewhat zoned out, clapping along with everyone else when people were Sorted but not really paying attention. What if he wasn't that lucky? What if everyone got into Gryffindor but him, and he went to Slytherin? "Black, Sirius!" Sirius jumped.

"That's you, mate!" James whispered excitedly, shoving him forwards. Sirius stumbled up the stairs and sat down on the stool. He placed the hat on his head.

"A Black...interesting." a sly voice whispered in his head instantly. "Normally I would say Slytherin -- as I'm sure you know," it added as Sirius winced. "But you appear to be a different case. Hm...where to send you? You're not friendly or fair enough to be in Hufflepuff --"

_Hey!_ Sirius thought.

"--and you are intelligent, I suppose, but you don't seem quite right for Ravenclaw," the hat continued, ignoring him. "then all that's left is -- Gryffindor!" it yelled out. Sirius simply sat there for a moment, slightly confused. But then he gathered his senses, leaping off the stool with joy as he realised he'd gotten into the house he wanted. He ran off to join Zane, who was motioning for Sirius to sit next to him at the table.

"This is bloody brilliant!" Zane exclaimed as he sat down. "I've never seen anything like it! You're Sirius, right?" he added.

"Yes -- and you're Zane? That's such a cool name!"

Zane laughed. "Thanks --" His stomach growled suddenly, incredibly loud. "Sorry," he said in an apologetic voice as Sirius burst into laughter. "Whenever I get hungry it does that. Wish the sorting were over already, I'm starving!"

Sirius glanced at Professor McGonagall reading out the names. "We're only on C!"

"Oh, I know, I know!" Zane whined. "It's not fair!"

"Cauldwell, Anthea!" Sirius sat up straighter in his seat.

Anthea walked calmly up to the stool, placing the hat on her head. She sat there for a few minutes, looking quite reasonable and in control. Finally, the hat yelled out, "Gryffindor!" She took it off and bounded away fro the platform, sitting down next to Zane.

"Hey Zane, Sirius!" she said happily. "This is so cool!"

They waited longer, Sirius drifting off here and there, only to wake up again when a familiar name was called. "Evans, Lily!"

Lily took about twenty seconds to be Sorted into Gryffindor. "Lupin, Remus!" Remus barely sat down when the hat yelled out Gryffindor. "Pettigrew, Peter!" Peter took a little bit longer, but in the end also went to Gryffindor. "Potter, James!" James was about the same as Remus -- he got Sorted into Gryffindor fairly quickly.

When they had all sat down together at the Gryffindor table, and the king's feast had bloomed out of nowhere, Anthea suddenly asked, "What did the hat say to you guys?"

"Hmmphgh," James said, a large buffalo wing in his mouth already. He held up his hand, signaling them to wait while he swallowed a huge bite. "Didn't say very much," he said once he'd finished. "just, 'oh, another Potter!'" He took another large bite of buffalo wing.

"Charming," Anthea said sarcastically as sauce was mushed all over his face. "That'll get you the ladies." James grinned.

"The hat didn't say much to me either," Remus said. "it considered Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, but only briefly."

"It considered those for me too," Lily said, staring at James with a look of disgust and wonderment on her face simultaneously. "How on earth can a boy such as him fit so much into his mouth in one bite?!" Indeed, James had just managed an entire slice of mutton into his mouth without even chewing.

"Moving on," Zane intervened, "It considered Hufflepuff for me, but then said I was way more of a Gryffindor."

"It didn't consider Hufflepuff for me for more than a second, and the same with Slytherin. Ravenclaw took a bit longer, but barely. It thought I was a Gryffindor pretty much from the start." Anthea told them.

Sirius reflected on this. "You took a long time, though -- three minutes or something."

Anthea shrugged and looked away, but not before Sirius managed to catch an odd look in her eyes. "It wanted to be absolutely sure, I guess."

Sirius shrugged as well. "It considered Slytherin for me for a second. Told me I wasn't smart enough for Ravenclaw! It decided on Gryffindor pretty fast."

Anthea nodded. "What about you, Peter? You've been awfully quiet."

"It considered Slytherin for me too, that was it. Then it said Gryffindor." Peter replied.

"It's funny how people can have two sides to them, which makes them part of two of even the most separate houses, like Gryffindor and Slytherin," Lily remarked.

"Dessert time!" James shouted suddenly. The leftovers of their dinners all disappeared from their plates, leaving them sparkling clean, and any kind of dessert one could ever desire popped up down the middle of the table.

"Nice!" Zane exclaimed, grabbing for the nearest treacle tart. "I love these!"

After dinner they were all led up to their dorms. Sirius found, to his delight, that he was sharing a dorm with all of the boys he'd already made friends with; Zane, James, Remus, and Peter. There was an extra bed which turned out to belong to a cheerful looking boy named Frank Longbottom. _Quite an unfortunate name for someone so nice,_ Sirius thought.

They all talked to each other while they unpacked -- James and Zane brought out massive supplies of wizard candy, and Peter showed them the Giant Book of Quidditch, which fascinated Sirius and James beyond words. All the boys went to bed that night very late -- they were too excited for the next day to go to sleep properly. Especially Sirius, who spent much of the night thinking about a particular she...

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They've finally reached Hogwarts! Yay! (Please review!!) Next chapter is: Classes Commence!


	5. Classes Commence!

So many people have read this and few have reviewed!! Noooooo!!

Sirius: It's because everyone wants more of me, DUH.

Lily: Who'd be able to put up with your ego? They'd probably be crushed underneath it.

Sirius: HEY! James, back me up!

James: drools over Lily

Lily: HAHAHAHAHA SIRIUS I WIN!

Remus: Um...oookay...back to buisness...Disclaimer: LaurieLover STILL does not own Harry Potter.

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"Morning," Anthea and Lily greeted the six of them as they climbed down the stairs for breakfast. "Had a good sleep?" All of the boys said no, and Anthea and Lily said it was the same for them. "You'll meet the rest of the people from our dorm later, I suppose," Anthea said, glancing up at her room.

Remus remembered, just as they were all leaving the common room together, that the girls had not been introduced to Frank.

They were introduced, and the group went on its merry way to breakfast. When they arrived, Professor McGonagall was just beginning to hand out timetables. "Alberini?"

"Here," Zane said, rushing forward to grab his schedule. "Thanks."

Everyone crowded around Zane, trying to see which lessons they would have when. "Hey, hey, back off!" he said jokingly, hiding his timetable. "You'll all get yours soon."

Nevertheless, he went through the sheet out loud. "First lesson on Monday and Wednesday; Charms. Transfiguration right after, and then on Monday a double period of Potions, on Wednesday only one. Broom practice is also on Monday and Wednesday, after lunch." He continued through the list, people talking around him about which day was their favorite, which periods they thought they'd like best.

"I think i'll like Herbology best," Zane said, breaking off from his long reading. "I like green things."

"I'm looking forward to everything," Anthea said. "Dunno which ones i'll like best until I meet the teachers."

"Broom practice, definitely." James stated.

"I think...nevermind, I'm with Anthea. I have no idea which ones i'll like and which ones I won't." Remus said.

Lily chimed in, "I'm either for Charms or Transfiguration, I can't decide between the two."

"I think perhaps i'll like Potions the best," Peter remarked.

"Agreed," a voice came from behind them. "that and Transfiguration."

Anthea and Lily turned around. "Oh, hello, Lisa!" Anthea greeted her. "We were just going over the schedule. Lisa, this is...well, a whole lot of people," she said as she looked over all of them. "all right, let's try this -- I don't blame you if you can't remember. This is James, Remus, Zane, er...Frank? Yes? Good. Sirius, obviously you know me and Lily, and...er..." She faltered again as she pointed to Peter. "What's your name again?"

"Peter," Peter said.

"Oh, right. Sorry, Peter!"

"S'all right," Peter told her kindly. "I'm having trouble remembering people's names myself."

"Oi! Anthea! Lisa!" They both turned around.

"Morning you two!" The two people Anthea and Lily had gotten into the boat with were walking over. "Everyone, this is Ben and John. And I am not giving introductions again!" she added. "Someone else do it this time."

"Nah, it's all right," John said. "we'll learn as we go along."

Ben spoke; "You guys have your schedules yet?" They nodded. "Cool. We should --"

"Everyone please finish up your breakfast, classes start in ten minutes!" they were interrupted by Professor McGonagall.

"We'd best be heading back to the dorms to get our stuff," Anthea said. "Keep talking, you guys."

"As Ben was saying..." John continued for him as they headed back towards the common room. Apparently they were dying to visit Zonko's, a shop in Hogsmeade filled with all sorts of pranks, but first-years weren't allowed to go. "If we all pitch in, we could probably get someone to buy us some pranks to play on our least favorite teacher!"

Lisa laughed. "You've barely been here a day and already you're planning out some innocent teacher's fate!"

"That's John for you," Anthea laughed. "Well sure, I think that sounds pretty cool. But you know what I heard," she said, lowering her voice so they all had to lean in. "I heard from Cyril there's a secret passageway somewhere round here that leads straight to the basement of Honeydukes!"

"How on earth do you know all this?!" Remus interrupted, bewildered. "We've only been here for a few hours!"

Ben chuckled and tapped his head. "We have friends in high places." he said mysteriously.

"We're all friends from camp, Zane, John, Ben, Lisa, and I," Anthea explained to Remus. "We know some people who've been going to Hogwarts for years."

"Oh, cool!" said a fascinated Peter.

"Anyway, what's this about a secret passageway?" Zane asked, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "Does Cyril know where it is?"

Anthea shook her head. "No -- but we could look for it, couldn't we?" They arrived at the portrait of the fat lady. "Codswallop," Anthea told her.

"Certainly," the fat lady nodded, swinging her portrait open.

"I mean, I think -- where on earth is my stuff?" Anthea interrupted herself mid-sentence. "Hm, that's odd. I was sure I left it here. Hang on, let me go check the dorm." She bounded up the stairs, "Lily, Lisa? Either of you see my bag?"

"Yeah, I got it, Anthea, sorry," Lisa said sheepishly, holding out a black suede bag. "found it on my bed for some reason."

"Odd...so everyone's got their stuff?" Lily asked as they returned downstairs. "Let's go to Charms then."

They arrived at Charms to see a very short man attempting to get the class quiet. "Today we'll be learning a simple fire charm, _incendio_." he said loudly. "Quiet now, everyone -- quiet!" The chatter continued.

"Five points from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw each!"

The classroom got deathly quiet.

"Well now," the man said with a slight smile, "that certainly works. My name is Professor Flitwick..." He continued, and on went the class. Sirius and Anthea got the fire charm down with no trouble -- well, Sirius nearly set the table on fire, but after that mishap he had no trouble. Remus and James both got it after a while, and so did Zane and Lily. Peter on the other hand...

"Good lord!" John shouted, jumping up for the fifth time. "I told you, don't aim the wand towards me when you do that!"

Peter squirmed shamefully. "Sorry," he squeaked. "I think I need a new desk, professor."

Ben snorted loudly, and Lisa hushed him. "This'll happen to us all eventually, I'm sure." But even she couldn't keep in a snicker as Peter set John's sleeve on fire and John cursed loudly, smacking Peter on the back of head with the sleeve that was left. Anthea and Lily were near hysterics at this point. They both breathed in deeply, forcing themselves to calm down.

"Last time I'm sitting next to Peter in Charms," John muttered angrily, setting the two girls off again. Remus looked over to see Sirius, James and Zane all huddled together, also in hysterics but trying very hard to keep quiet. _Am I the only sane one here?! _He wondered.

He would be wondering that quite a lot over the course of the next few months. After that he'd be sucked into the craziness as well, though he knew little of that now.

* * *

Transfiguration class was remarkably uneventful compared to Charms. They spent the whole lesson trying to turn a pencil into a pen, which none of them succeeded in besides Lisa, who turned out to be quite good at transfiguring things.

After that came a double period of Potions, in which Peter did the best he'd done all day. In fact, he didn't set anything on fire at all. Sirius and James were both terrible at Potions, and Anthea couldn't concentrate when they were joking around because she'd start laughing too.

Lily and Lisa both did fairly well, while John and Ben didn't even try. They were having far too much fun concocting horrible mutations that towards the end of class exploded onto everyone, causing their robes to stink like dungbombs and various tattoos to appear randomly on any skin that had been exposed.

James, to his disgust, had a large purple hippo plastered on his forehead for the rest of the day, while Remus had what appeared to be a jewelry box under his left eye.

Sirius, to his delight, had a large Hippogriff starting on his neck and ending on his chest, its wings spread across his collarbone. He was unspeakably sad when it faded away the next day.

Lisa had a heart on her cheek, a real heart, veins and all, and Lily had a pentacle on her shoulder. Anthea, whose sleeves had been rolled up when the potion exploded, had a rose entwined with a snake on her right arm, a lion fighting an eagle on her left arm, and a heart like Lisa's also on her cheek.

John and Ben, being the ones who were standing next to the potion when it went off, had gotten the worst of it. John had a raccoon eating a bone splattered entirely across his face, and a mallard on his neck, and Ben had a ferret across his nose, a pink flower on his left cheek, an elephant on his right cheek, and what looked to be a sheet of homework on his forehead. Zane, somehow, had gotten away with nothing.

After that they had lunch, all of them thoroughly enjoying the attention they received due to their tattoos. So far, so good.

Then came broom practice, which was a disaster.

James had apparently found his calling, and he got his broom into his hand in about a second, Sirius and Anthea close behind. Ben and John's brooms both went haywire, attacking anything that moved, and Zane's broom shattered when he touched it. Lily's broom acted normal at first -- that is, until she was in the air and it began talking to her, scaring her so much she nearly fell off. Lisa's broom pulled the same thing, causing Lisa to decide from then on that she was meant to stay on the ground. A pity, too, James told the group later, 'cause she really was a good flier.

As it turns out, Peeves had messed with the majority of the brooms before practice, so they didn't unfortunately get very far into the lesson before they were released out onto the Hogwarts grounds to do whatever they wanted before Herbology started.

Herbology class was a bore for Sirius, Anthea, James, and John, though Peter, Zane, Lisa, Lily, and Ben enjoyed it. Remus didn't really care either way, his mind seemed to be on something else.

After that they had Defence Against the Dark Arts, which all of them loved. Their teacher, Mr. Debator, was an incredibly funny man, as though his name wasn't enough. He was also a very good teacher, and the group left that class feeling quite proud that they'd learned so much in one period. Finally they had dinner, and all of them went to bed that night quite exhausted but also quite elated.

School was fun.

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PLEASE REVIEW! As always. Next chapter: A disappearance. He's gone!


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